From Sen. Tim Kaine:
KAINE TO ATTEMPT PASSAGE OF RESOLUTION DEMANDING accountability for Saudi-sponsored murder of Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, November 19, at approximately 5:10 PM, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will speak on the Senate floor and ask for unanimous consent to pass his legislation to commemorate the seventh anniversary of journalist and Northern Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, which was directed by Saudi government officials. The legislation also calls for the Government of Saudi Arabia to release wrongfully detained individuals, respect the rights of Saudi citizens, and ensure the protection of the freedoms of assembly, association, and the press. This resolution comes the day after President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in the White House and defended the Crown Prince when MBS was asked by a journalist about Khashoggi’s murder. In addition to Kaine, the legislation is co-led by U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and U.S. Representative James R. Walkinshaw (D-VA-11).
Kaine has been repeatedly outspoken against the Saudi-sponsored murder of Khashoggi and has demanded accountability since 2018. In 2019, following a recommendation made by the United Nations, Kaine called on the FBI to open an investigation into the murder of Khashoggi after months of continued inaction by President Trump in his first term. In 2022, Kaine criticized the U.S. State Department’s decision to support Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s claim of sovereign immunity in a lawsuit brought by Khashoggi’s friends and family following the murder.
“This resolution is to honor the life and the absolutely gruesome death of the journalist, Washington Post journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi.
For those who are not aware of Jamal Khashoggi’s story, he dedicated his life to uncovering the truth. His work shed light on the repressive nature of the Saudi Arabian government and it exposed him to great personal danger. He fled Saudi Arabia in 2017 and his family found a home in Northern Virginia.
The Khashoggi story is now unfortunately too well known. On October 2nd, 2018, Mr. Khashoggi was brutally murdered by the Saudi government agents at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Murdered within a consulate, a place that is supposed to be a safe haven. And his body, by all accounts of US and other intelligence, was dismembered by those Saudi agents within the consulate.
Mr. Khashoggi was not killed because he committed a crime. He was killed for speaking the truth as a journalist and shining a spotlight on the repressive nature of the Saudi Arabian government. He was killed for standing up for the rights of his fellow Saudi Arabians.
Mr. Khashoggi’s death is not a mystery. This is not a cold case waiting to be solved. We know exactly who was responsible for this killing. The US government’s office of the director of national intelligence as well as other US intelligence agencies determined that crown prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Salman, or MBS as he’s often referred to, approved an official governmental operation in Istanbul to capture or kill Jamal Khashoggi. And as a result of that operation approved by MBS, Mr. Khashoggi was ambushed as he went to the consulate to get some paperwork regarding his marriage. He was strangled, killed, and his body was dismembered. And then evidence of that crime was attempted to be destroyed.
Seven years later, there has been no accountability for the person most responsible for the horrifying murder. No real justice for Jamal Khashoggi, no justice for his family, no justice for the many others who have raised their voices in Saudi Arabia – and who for something simple as tweeting are being threatened with execution. Instead, the leader who approved the operation to kill Jamal Khashoggi, the man who was proud to oppress his own people, MBS, is being celebrated today at our White House. MBS was welcomed with a black tie dinner. He’s being offered F-35 fighter jets, one of the crown jewels of our security apparatus, over the open objections of our ally Israel, and potentially in violation of the law. He’s being offered extremely high-tech computer chips and other valuable US technology. He’s being offered a major mutual defense agreement. It is frankly outrageous to me that the president of the United States would assert that American service members should put their lives on the line to defend the oppressive regime in Saudi Arabia.
Yesterday when President Trump was asked by a reporter from ABC about Jamal Khashoggi, he said, quote, ‘A lot of people didn’t like Jamal.’ He said about the killing, quote, ‘Things happened.’ Close quote. Things like a gruesome strangling in an embassy and the dismembering of a body of a journalist for the Washington Post with a bone saw. Things happen. And then our president threatened ABC’s broadcast license because the reporter had the audacity to ask him a question he didn’t like.
I’ve said it many times and I’m gonna say it again. Standing with this regime with no accountability for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is not America First. It’s not consistent with our values as a world-leading democracy. I was very vocal in my frustration about this matter, not only during President Trump’s first term, but also during President Biden’s term. When President Biden visited Saudi Arabia in 2022 and fistbumped with MBS, I was vocal in my dissatisfaction. I was vocal in my disappointment over this effort when Biden administration State Department sided with MBS in his efforts to gain sovereign immunity in the United States to avoid accountability for this murder. I was frustrated when Biden administration Middle East policy officials left the White House in January of 2025, and in short order started signing lucrative contracts with the Saudi government.
And I continue to be appalled as the families of senior Trump administration officials, Kushner family, Witkoff family, and President Donald J. Trump’s own children signed major deals with the Saudi regime in cryptocurrency or real estate development. Just a few days ago, on November 15th, the New York Times reported that the Trump Organization was in talks to bring Trump-branded property to one of Saudi Arabia’s largest government-owned real estate development. And I have huge questions, as I think many Americans do, about whether the intertwining of cryptocurrency or real estate deals is behind the president’s casual reference to ‘things happen’ to whitewash and excuse the assassination and dismembering of a Washington Post journalist who lived in my state.
When the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour made overtures about maybe acquiring the PGA in 2023, there was bipartisan outrage about that. But I’ve heard little outrage from any of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle regarding MBS’s visit. Is the PGA more important or worth raising concerns about than the transfer of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia?
Shouldn’t we ask what is the Trump administration’s priority? Is it democracy? Is it human rights? Is it national security? Or is it real estate or cryptocurrency deals that benefit family members of those in the administration? Why is the administration willing to move so far to accommodate this regime, this individual that our own intelligence agencies have said is responsible for the murder of a Washington Post journalist who lives in my Commonwealth? What is the United States getting from offering MBS all of this? Or is the United States getting anything? Is it instead individuals who are getting their pockets filled at the expense of our democratic human rights values?
Standing with Saudi Arabia against the interests of the American people, against our national security, against our human rights proclamations, against the security of our ally Israel, and against the freedom of the press right here at home is unconscionable.
And so now, Mr. President, I would like to ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to Senate Resolution 473. Further, that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.”
SENATE BLOCKS PASSAGE OF KAINE’S LEGISLATION TO DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SAUDI-SPONSORED MURDER OF VIRGINIA RESIDENT JAMAL KHASHOGGI
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor to ask unanimous consent for passage of his resolution to commemorate the seventh anniversary of journalist and Northern Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, which was directed by Saudi government officials. The legislation’s passage was blocked by an objecting senator. Kaine’s push came the day after President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in the White House and defended the Crown Prince when asked about Khashoggi’s murder.
“Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered by the Saudi government because he dedicated his life to uncovering the truth and shed light on the repressive nature of the Saudi regime,” said Kaine. “The passage of my resolution honoring Mr. Khashoggi and calling for accountability for his murder should be a no-brainer. It is particularly outrageous that any senator would object to this simple resolution while saying nothing about President Trump rolling out the red carpet for MBS and leveraging the presidency for private business deals that benefit his family.”
Full video of Kaine asking the Senate to unanimously pass his legislation honoring Khashoggi is available here.
Kaine has been repeatedly outspoken against the Saudi-sponsored murder of Khashoggi and has demanded accountability since 2018. In 2019, following a recommendation made by the United Nations, Kaine called on the FBI to open an investigation into the murder of Khashoggi after months of continued inaction by President Trump in his first term. In 2022, Kaine criticized the U.S. State Department’s decision to support MBS’ claim of sovereign immunity in a lawsuit brought by Khashoggi’s friends and family following the murder.
